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WildStar gives beta testers a wacky housing challenge
Remember the WildStar housing challenge several months back? Carbine Studios has done it again, as the studio challenged beta testers to come up with the best player house screenshots. This time, however, there's a theme: wacky! Carbine posted the winners of the contest, which range from a Game of Thrones homage to a weird wedding to a labyrinth made of stuffed animals. All of the winners will receive a special trophy that can be displayed when the game goes live. For the rest of us, these screenshots are a glimpse into the potential of the housing system, so check them out and let us know what you think!
Brando's USB mailbox lights up, thrills your heart when email arrives
Is the plastic heap you're peering at above anywhere near as cute as the notifying papercraft Wall-E we spotted late last year? Not even close, but it's equally captivating. Crafted by the geniuses at Brando, the USB Mail Box Friends Alert works with Windows-based machines that happen to have an open USB port. Simply plug it in, install the software and link your Facebook, Twitter or email account; when a new message arrives, the mailbox lights up, a sound can be emitted and the flag can even raise to alert you. Never mind the fact that the flag should only raise when you've got something in the outbox -- you know you're dropping $18 on this, anyway.
Confused pig face mobile phone has paw print buttons, Winnie the Pooh sticker
Oh China, how we love the gadgets you produce. Particularly those of the homegrown variety. We can't say we spotted this pig face mobile during our recent jaunt through the gadget sectors of Hong Kong, but boy, do we wish we had. In one of the most extreme cases of product confusion ever, it looks as if we've got a clamshell phone with the face of a pig, a 0.3 megapixel camera, light-up eyes, a smattering of misplaced Walt Disney logos, paw print send / end buttons and rear speakers, and a random Winnie the Pooh sticker on the rear -- you know, to really cap things off. We're guessing this is some failed attempt to generate yet another KIRF Disney phone, but seriously, a glowing pig? Hello Kitty is not pleased. [Thanks, Chris]
Gearbox: Borderlands art style helped 'make a certain leap of faith'
The Borderlands crew at Gearbox Software is making the post-mortem interview rounds, and this time Aaron Thibault, Stephen Palmer and Matthew Armstrong stopped to chat with G4. The interview has some excellent insight into the making of the game: The team originally was finishing up the Halo PC port when they realized that Bungie had dynamically coded their guns, and wondered what you could do if you dynamically created guns from that code. "Halo meets Diablo" was the answer, and that was Gearbox's premise from the beginning. They also talk about the famous art style change, and say that the current animated look actually helped players get into the game -- they could "make a certain leap of faith into an understanding that the crazier and wackier and more fun things can exist in this world." And they say that for future installments, they are taking player feedback into account: Both a mini-map and more levels are two things that they didn't quite expect such a call for, so it's a safe bet that we'll see those features in any future installments of the "important" franchise. Please?
Solid Alliance's new earbuds are 'crazy,' ugly
So, you broke the bank (and several credit cards) picking up that uber-stylish Acronym GT-J14 earbud-friendly jacket only to find that no one even noticed? Or perhaps your Lady GaGa-approved beats couldn't endure the Paris Is Burning-style bad craziness you put 'em through? Well, it looks like it's time to sell a pint of plasma and use the cash for some psychedelic (and highly unfortunate) Crazy Earphones from Solid Alliance. Featuring a banana, a kitty paw print, sushi, or a Frankenstein's monster-esque bolt affectation, we promise you that a pair of these will get you noticed. But not in the good way. Pre-order now for $22, shipping in December.%Gallery-76120% [Via Akihabara]
Friday fakes: The best of the bogus
TUAW presents to you the best of the obviously fake device shots we've seen in the last couple of weeks. On occasion they're beautiful renderings that are worth a second glance, other times they're out of focus shots that tipsters swear were taken quickly at a meeting on the Apple campus. In any case, they're a lot of fun. Let's begin with this gem from the French blog Le Journal du Geek. In a post titled "Encore un peu de MacBook Touch?" ("Again a little MacBook Touch?"), we see what looks like a page from an Apple website: This fake is fabulous! It shows the device being about the size of what everyone would like to see, with about a 10" diagonal display. They give it a plausible name instead of the lame "iPad" moniker, the power button is located away from the middle of the device, and the faux photos show it being used with a dock, as a music keyboard in GarageBand, and flipping from landscape to portrait. Very cool, and they even endow the MacBook touch with drool-worthy specs on the website.
This is your iPod on drugs, any questions?
If this is what Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev & Alexei Shulgin see when they look at their iPods every day, I would suggest a medication adjustment at the earliest opportunity. The sculpture version of a giant, warped iPod is fully functional, although you'd have to be relatively immune to eyestrain and vertigo if you wanted to use it on a regular basis.Do you have a favorite iPod or Mac-themed work of art? Drop a link in the comments or add the 'tuaw' tag to a Flickr photo and we'll check it out.Thanks Aaron![via MAKEblog]
New DS game comes with slide controller attachment
A new DS game revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu, Slide Adventure: Mag Kid, features an unusual control method: sliding. The game comes bundled with a slide controller that attaches to the bottom of the DS like a stand. Sitting the system on a table (or desk, or frozen pond) you slide it around to control the magnetic main character. Push the DS toward an enemy to paralyze the foe and attach it to Mag Kid. When you're ready to drop the baddies, just give the DS a shake. Sounds just gimmicky enough to work, but we're eager to see it in action. Slide Adventure: Mag Kid is set for release in Japan on August 2.
Drumsticks for your iPod
The dazzling array of iPod accessories that are available these days just boggles my mind. I suppose selling 100 million of the things will do that for ya. Anyway, the latest wacky iPod accessory to make it on my radar is the mi Jam™ Drummer. Plug 'em into your iPod and these motion activated drumsticks allow you to drum along with your favorite songs. Who amongst us hasn't daydreamed of being the drummer in their favorite Rock and Roll band (you kids with your Rock and Roll music)?All your drumming dreams can come true for about $30.[via bookofjoe]
Today's 80s-est game video - Game Over
We're sort of terrified and entranced by this at the same time -- it involves bad 80s music and video games, and combines them into one extremely strange video. Words fail to describe just how bizarre this is. Although, one thing's for sure ... that version of Pac-Man he's playing has some pretty damn smooth graphics.When you're done watching this, rubbing your eyes, and practicing your double-takes, hit up the video that this is a response to. YouTube just never ceases to amaze, does it?
Today's weirdest game video: Gears of War secret man on toilet
Gamers will find anything, and we mean anything inside a game. Take this video for instance. Apparently in the Rooftops multiplayer level of Gears of War, there's a dead man sitting on a toilet inside one of the nearby buildings and you can see him through the window. You can follow the links to instructions on how to find it, but you'd do just as well to watch the video and see it in super slow motion.How do people find stuff like this? If they're anything like us, then they get tired of being pwned and start exploring the scenery. Our money's on that. Check the video out after the jump if you can stand the annoying music.
GamerBUS provides mobile Xbox 360 LAN parties
If you're incensed about wasting your weekend (and part of last week) cruising around in futility trying to locate a Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii, the GamerBUS can provide the ultimate painkiller -- provided you live around the Virginia Beach area, that is. If you've got 63 friends or so, and you're not claustrophobic, you can pack your posse into the 37-foot customized RV and get your game(s) on. Sporting a bevy of comfortable seating options, sixteen Xbox 360 "gamer stations" (pictured after the jump) with their own 23-inch Philips HDTV, and all the CAT5 cable / electricity you could ever need, this redefines the party on wheels. Essentially offering a mobile gaming LAN, the bus operators will gladly wire up a 16-person system-linked round of Halo 2 (or a variety of other titles) while you provide the Cheetos and air fresheners. Although weekday hours boast an understandable discount, weekend rates range from $125 to $150 per hour, depending on how long you occupy the vehicle. Notably, no connection has been drawn between this newfangled gaming service and the Va Beach entrepreneur trickster hitting it big on vulnerable ATMs.[Via Digg]
